HPV and Velomobile Records

HPV and Velomobile Records



When the Trisled team began our path towards streamlined tricycle record attempts in 2008, we didn’t realise it would lead to a new era of record setting. But in just two years of attempts, our streamlined tricycles have cracked four Australian human powered land speed records and three world records. And for the first time in HPV history, not one but two prestigious world records have been taken back from a speed bike by a modified velomobile. Not only has Trisled added a new twist to world endurance speed records, but we have proven that a fast vehicle can still be a practical road-going machine. This page takes you through the history and story of this development, the vehicles, the designer, the rider powering the machines, and the many ‘behind the scenes’ people that made these attempts possible.

The Records
Overzealous vehicle Australian 12-hour record, Jeff Nielsen, 490.25km, 2008Australian eight-man 24-hour record, 1181km, 2008 (current)World low altitude trike hour record, Jeff Nielsen, 61.81km, 2009 (current)Australian low-altitude land speed record, Jeff Nielsen, 82.66 km/h, 2009 (current)

A lil Overzealous vehicleAustralian 12-hour record, Jeff Nielsen, 2010 (current) Australian 6-hour record, Jeff Nielsen, 2010 (current)World solo 24-hour record, Jeff Nielsen, 1109km, 2010 (current) World 1000km record, Jeff Nielsen, 21 hours and 21 minutes, 2010 (current)



Top left: vehicle designer Ben Goodall with 'a lil Overzealous' and rider Jeff Nielsen at the 24-hour record attempt in 2010.Pictured right: Overzealous vehicle at the eight man 24-hour record attempt in 2008

The Vehicles
Trisled’s R&D priority is developing practical real world outcomes. Our two record-setting streamlined tricycles, Overzealous and a lil Overzealous have been developed to explore the upper limits of this format. Based on the Sorcerer Series II HPV, these vehicles were purpose-built for specific record attempts. Data collected from these attempts will be used to further the development of fast, lightweight and practical commuter vehicles.



Pictured left: Trisled Designer Ben Goodall and Rider Jeff Nieslen after breaking the Australian land speed record and world low-altitude one-hour trike record in 2009.

Following the success of our experimental machine Overzealous, the Trisled development team became increasingly interested in exploring the upper limits of streamlined tricycles. Power and speed data suggested that Overzealous was in the ballpark of speed bike efficiency, and not too far away from the realm of a practical road-going machine. While Overzealous was good, further reductions in frontal area and weight could be achieved. A lil Overzealous is the realisation of that goal.

While Overzealous is already light (21.6kg), a lil overzealous is even lighter, weighing just 17.3 kg. It is also significantly smaller, with 80mm shaved from its width and 20mm from its height. And it isn’t just carbon keeping the weight down. Fifteen years of HPV racing has taught the Trisled team a thing or two about building vehicles light. Combined with a vacuum-infused shell produced by our in-house composites guru Ken Houghton, a lil Overzealous is one of the lightest vehicles of its kind developed in the world.

From Speed Bikes to Speed Trikes
Tri-Sled designer, Ben Goodall, had been following the progress of the 24-hour solo record for some time and observed the methods used by successful attempts. All previous attempts had been undertaken in two wheeled streamlined bicycles. In discussion with rider Jeff Neilson and the rest of the development team, Ben had developed a theory. During the Sled Edge speed bike project. the team observed that Jeff’s heart rate was higher in the speed bike than a streamlined trike with the same power output. Ben believed that this could be due to the mental anxiety of launching, catching and balancing the machine. While it was difficult to get an exact figure on it, he believed that it was bound to be more than the efficiency loss of having a third wheel on the ground. If all other aspects of the machine such as frontal area and weight were optimised then the vehicle should be efficient enough in the 50km/h range to set a 24-hour record (this is in fact the speed Jeff averaged during the 24 hour attempt!).







Pictured above: A lil Overzealous during the 24-hour record attempt at Edithvale velodromePictured below: Jeff Nielsen



The Rider
In the Trisled Fresh Racing Team, Jeff Nielsen is described as ‘the freak show’. However, he is neither an Olympic athlete nor a professional athlete. The person who has now traveled further than any other person in the world using only his own power is simply a very driven and fit individual. While very few of us can realistically expect to top Jeff’s incredible performance, he is a testimony to what an ‘ordinary’ person can achieve if they put their mind and passion into something they really want. Perhaps more significantly, he is an example of what is possible with human power.

The major driving force for the development of a lil Overzealous was Jeff, who put long days and nights into cutting and shutting the smaller pattern over the 2009-10 Christmas break, with the help of his friend and colleague Mikey, and Ben and Gareth from Trisled. Following his successful Australian land speed record and world trike hour record during Easter 2009, Jeff was more determined than ever to go for his long time goal of setting a world 24-hour distance record. Jeff spent huge amounts of time working on his fueling and hydration strategies, as well as his training methods. His success was as much about these smaller details as it was about fitness.

One of the toughest challenges in any long distance record is keeping the rider ‘fed and watered’. Using their HPV racing experience, the team devised an innovative strategy known as the ‘bottle pass’, where a rider got up to speed with Jeff using the Aqulia racing HPV, and passed provisions through the hatch. Check out the You Tube footage below showing the bottle changes. Jeff kept a mobile phone on his ‘dashboard’, where he called the team to put in his order (and have a general chat!) This strategy was so successful that Jeff didn’t stop for the first 12 hours! And as for disposing of the fluids, Jeff used a colostomy bag, which, after a few hours of stage fright, he managed to operate smoothly for the remainder of the attempt.





Videos from top: Bottle change for Jeff during his 24-hour record attempt.
A bottle change and sandwich delivery to Jeff during his 24-hour record attempt



Pictured right: Jeff Nielsen
Jeff’s passion and motivation was personal. In his mid teens, Jeff lost his mother to heart disease, and shortly after his father died of cancer. Jeff channeled this energy towards his record attempts and, for his 24-hour attempt, he pledged his support to the Heart Foundation, raising over $3000 for this worthy cause. Jeff describes his motivation on his website, Pedal For Heart: ‘I want everyone to see me attempt this record in the hope that they might think: “wow, the human body is amazing and it can achieve so much”, and to think to themselves, “what am I doing to stay fit and healthy?” I want everyone to read and hear about my life and make the effort to know the warning signs of cardiovascular disease and to make the effort to not becoming another victim to this killer.’ There is still time to donate to Jeff’s cause if you haven’t already!

The Designer
There isn’t a lot remarkable about Overzealous or even a lil Overzealous. In fact, both of these vehicles are based on the Sorcerer Series II design, developed using manual methods over ten years ago in the depths of Tri-Sled Director Ben Goodall’s parents’ garage. However, years of HPV racing has taught Ben that the real wins are little, and they come from attention to detail.

Through many years of paying attention to these small details, Ben has achieved some big results in a very small machine! When it comes down to something you have to pedal, it’s not what’s in the machine that matters, but what you’ve been able to take away. And as for passion, Ben’s comes close to Jeff’s! He believes that breaking the 24-hour record has been one of the most rewarding moments in his HPV-building career: ‘Nothing brings me more pleasure than seeing a machine I designed reaching its full potential. I went into this attempt feeling confident about the vehicle’s performance. Jeff's performance completely blew my mind! I have never seen anything like it!’

Design Challenges
There were several design challenges in making the sizable reductions in size and performance required to make a lil Overzealous, the biggest of which was that there was limited room around the front end of the machine. At 540mm front track width in Overzealous, this vehicle was already stretched for room between the handlebars for Jeff’s legs. To overcome this problem, an integrated wheel guard and handlebar was devised for a lil Overzealous (pictured below), the result being that the front wheel could only be 15mm from the rider’s leg without any fear of interference. This solution paved the way for a new shell to be constructed a massive 13 per cent smaller! Other changes included the elimination of the adjustable seat and front brakes to save weight.









The Team
Clockwise from left: Mikey (pattern finishing); Gareth (bottle change rider, vehicle development); Ben (vehicle design and development); Ken (composite parts including shell); Nigel (site co- ordination); Steve (video footage and website); Mark (on-day helper); Sharna (Jeff's wife); Jeff (rider). Often the glory goes to one or two people when a record is broken, but in fact these records would not have been possible without the many ‘behind the scenes’ supporters working away, often into the wee hours of the morning. In fact, so many people have been involved in Trisled’s Overzealous and a lil Overzealous record attempts in the last two years that it would be impossible to list them all here! Nonetheless, we’ve made our best attempt at acknowledging our supporters below.

Vehicle development: Gareth Hanks, Ken Houghton, Jeff Nielsen, Mikey, Ben GoodallOzHPV organiser: Tim MarquardtOzHPV officiators: Eric Ball, Peter Heal, Rick Willoughby, John Reynoldson, Mick Donovan, Luke SuttonTiming systems: Luke Sutton, Tim Marquardt, Alan BallBottle passers: Gareth Hanks, Will Livesay, Chris Taylor On-day supporters: Nigel Smith, Mark Gilligan, Sharna Nielsen, Yolande Strengers, Luke Posthelswaith, Will Livesay, Chris Taylor, Lawrie and Julie Hunt, Ron and Matt from Team Phantom, Tri-Sled Fresh Racing Team, and all of the above.Photography and Filming: Chris Mozley, Steve Taylor



Overzealous Specifications
Body: Trisled Sorcerer series II shell. Fibreglass, without wheel arches fitted
Frame : Chromoly with custom geometry
Steering: Trisled direct steering
Seat: Trisled carbon
Wheels: 406mm Velocity rims 28 spoke. Schwalbe Kojak tyres
Driveline : 155mm external bearing crankset, 90t front chainring, 12-25 9-speed cassette
Length: 2700mm
Width: 660mm
Height: 870mm
Ground clearance: 90mm
Track width: 540mm
Wheel base: 1120mm
Seat angle (effective): 20 degrees
Weight: 21.6 kg
A lil Overzealous Specifications (pictured left)
Body: Custom made pattern and molds; 80mm narrower than Sorcerer series II. Resin infused Kevlar construction
Frame: Chromoly with custom geometry
Steering: Trisled direct steering with carbon
wheelguard & handlebar combined unit
Seat: Trisled carbon
Wheels: 406mm Velocity rims 28 spoke. Schwalbe Kojak tyres
Driveline: 155mm external bearing crankset, 90t front chainring, 12-25 9-speed cassette
Length: 2680mm
Width: 580mm
Height: 870mm
Ground clearance: 95mm
Track width: 440mm
Wheel base: 1120mm
Seat angle (effective): 20 degrees
Weight: 17.3 kg





Catching the first second of Jeff's 24-hour record attempt





From left: A lil overzealous circles the track at Edithvale velodrome; Gareth Hanks gets up to speed in the Aquila vehicle for the bottle pass to Jeff in 'a lil Overzealous'



Jeff and Ben are all smiles at the end of the 24-hour attempt